Hell's Fury
by Aggie Escott
Summary: Reid's life is in danger when a woman wants revenge
1. Cab Ride

**Hell's Fury**  
Chapter 1  
Cab Ride

"_**Before you embark on a journey of **__**revenge**__**, dig two graves.**__**" - Confucius**_

Emily sat at her desk watching Hotch through the window of his office. Since the team had been back at work, united in their common goal, Hotch had said nothing to her about their on off relationship. She had given up hope now of being with him. She knew that he had loved her, and possibly still did, but she had broken his heart by dumping him when he was the most vulnerable, and she didn't think he would give her another chance to hurt him again.

It was painful to see him every day and realise what she had almost had. She knew she was drawn to him more forcefully when he needed her physically, but when he needed her emotionally, she couldn't cope with his passion.

She turned back to her computer as Reid came out of his office and headed back down to the bull pen.

-0-0-0-

Reid thought some after work association would be a nice start to the week, and a chance to be with Hotch not in the confines of work. He leaned across to Emily.

'How about a drink after work, Emily.' he said.

'Sounds like a nice idea.' Emily agreed. 'I'll round the others up.' She looked at her watch. It wouldn't be long until the end of work. They had no case so they could spend some time relaxing.

Reid thought about his week off work. A week in which he had an important decision to make, a decision that would affect the rest of his life – whether or not to stay at the BAU with Aaron, or move on.

Ultimately of course it was Aaron's decision, not his. But he was sure that Aaron would allow him to stay if that was what he decided.

In his heart he had already decided. He would stay if he was allowed to. Now his feelings were out in the open, he was pretty sure that whatever happened, his colleagues would look out for him as they had always done.

-0-0-0-

They sat on the grass at the furthest end of the pub garden, overlooking fields stocked with wild flowers. It was a world away from the wickedness and evil that filled their days, and they wallowed in the beauty of it all. Penelope sat making a daisy chain that she ceremoniously placed about Morgan's neck. He laughed and pushed her playfully. She giggled.

They ate crisps and drank beer out of bottles and lay down on the grass. Hotch was quiet, and watched over his team like a mother watching her children. He didn't lie down. Neither did Rossi who sat beside him.

'Did Spencer come and see you?' he asked.

'Yes. I've given him a week off to think about it. It's a big decision, a transfer. He needs to be sure.'

'Ah so that's how to get time off!' Dave grinned, and added, not totally jokingly, 'Maybe I should try it. I could do with a holiday.'

Aaron gave him a sidelong glance, but said nothing.

When the bell for last orders rang, Hotch bought a last round of drinks. He noticed the women were showing signs of being tipsy, and he called for a cab to pick them up. They would leave their cars at the pub until tomorrow.

It was a seven seater SUV that picked them up. Hotch told the driver the first address, and one by one, the team members were dropped off at their respective homes. Until only Hotch and Reid were left.

'Think carefully about what you are going to do, Spencer.' Hotch said. 'It is a decision that will affect the rest of your life.'

'I will.' he answered.

As the cab stopped outside Reid's building, he opened the door to let him out. A woman standing on the kerb smiled at him, then to his surprise, she raised a gun with a silencer and told him to get back in the cab. He hesitated, and she pointed the gun into the cab and shot Aaron. As he slumped sideways in his seat, Reid, pale with shock got back into the cab.

'Hotch!' he said, eyes wide. But there was no answer. The blood on his shirt was forming a wide stain across his chest.

The woman got in. The driver had not seen what was happening.

'Where to miss?' he asked. She pointed the gun at the radio and shot it to pieces.

'Drive!' she said to the shocked driver. Reid was trying to stop the bleeding as the cab began to move again.

'You've killed him! Who the hell are you?' Reid said, his hands covered with Aaron's blood. He pressed down on the hole in Aaron's chest, trying to staunch the blood flow.

The cab drove out of the city, and back past the pub where earlier things had seemed so good. Reid felt a tear in his eyes as he held Hotch's body in his arms, rocking him as if that would revive him.

'Stop here.' the woman said. The driver pulled up at the edge of the road. The woman raised her gun and shot him point blank in the back of his head; the man's head exploded like and egg and Reid screamed.

'Why did you have to do that?' he cried. 'Why did you kill these two men? Who are you?'

'I am Phoebe Hesk.' she said. 'And they are dead because I didn't need them. It's you we want.'

She pushed the gun into his throat and pushed him out of the cab onto the grass verge. Reid looked back at Hotch who was now lying across the seat.

'Walk.'

'I can't just leave him!' Reid said, desperate to get back to Aaron.

'He's past your help, Reid, now move.' She shoved him forwards into a narrow border of trees and bushes that ran along side the road. As he stumbled through the undergrowth, he saw that there was a narrow farm track on the other side of the trees, and someone, another woman was sitting in a car with the engine running.

'Get in.' Hesk said, indicating the passenger's door. Reid got in, and turned to look at the woman who was driving. Then he recognised her. This was the woman who was working with Amos Cunningham. And he, Reid, was the one who caused his death!

He felt Hesk holding the gun to the back of his head as the car drove along the track and joined the road. The car drove past the abandoned cab, and Reid felt numb with shock as he pictured what was lying in the car. His hopes floundered as they drove on past and left the cab behind.

-0-0-0-

'There has been a shooting just outside the city limits.' the cop on the other end of the phone told Rossi. 'A cabbie has been killed and the passenger shot. I think the passenger might be still alive. He was when they took him off in the ambulance.'

Dave frowned. This was nothing to do with them. They were not working the case, and wouldn't be either. This sounded like a one off robbery.

'Why are you telling me this?' Dave asked.

'We think the guy who survived might be one of yours. Hotchner, his name is. FBI.'

Dave was instantly alert. 'Where have they taken him?'

He jotted down the name of the hospital, and put the phone down. He ran out into the bull pen. He called from the walkway.

'Hotch has been shot in a cab robbery.' he said once he had their attention. 'I'm going to the hospital. I'll have my phone on.'

He ran to the lift where he was joined by Prentiss.

'I'm coming too.' she said. 'When did it happen? Do we have any details?'

'Nothing, except Hotch is badly hurt.'

'Was Reid in the cab? He and Aaron were both in the cab when I got out.' she said.

'Get Morgan to have the cops check if they got to Reid's apartment.' Dave said. 'Reid said he was going away this morning. If the cab got to his apartment, we'll know he is safe. He wasn't in the cab when they found it.'

Dave got into the driver's side of the BAU SUV. His own car was still at the pub. He drove too fast to the hospital where Hotch and he himself had only recently been discharged. They parked in a no parking zone and ran into the reception.

'We're here for Aaron Hotchner, only recently brought in. can you tell me where we can wait for news.'

They were directed to a now familiar OR waiting room. Dave realised that he was shaking as he sat and put his hands to his face. Emily's mobile rang, and she quickly answered it. It was Morgan.

'The cab stopped off At Reid's building, so he was out of the cab before Hotch was shot. He'll be on holiday now – I think he was planning to go to Vegas. I've been trying to get hold of him, but his phone is switched off, or out of service. Tell Rossi I'll keep trying. He needs to know.'

She closed her phone and relayed the message to Dave. 'Hotch gave him a week off. Let's hope we can get in touch with him before the week's out.'

-0-0-0-

The car drove off the high way and stopped in a wooded car park where people stop when they walk in the woods. there was no one else there, and grass and other plants had pushed their way through the gravel indicating that it wasn't a well used place.

The woman who introduced herself as Marine Cox pushed Reid out of the car.

'We're here.' she said.

Hesk got out and pulled him onto his feet.

'Now walk.' she said and thrust the gun into the small of his back. The way was hard going. the undergrowth here was thick. Reid stumbled as the vines and brambles seemed to reach out to his legs and pull him over. Hesk tightened her grip on the gun. She was getting annoyed with him.

'Get the hell up.' she said, and pulled at his hair. Reid stood up, his hands now bleeding his own blood where he had caught the brambles when he went down. He was walking in a daze, trying to come to terms with what had happened. Hotch was dead, and he was in the hands of the same people who had tortured him to the point of dying. There was nothing he could do at the moment other than do as the two women ordered him. But he was going to take the first chance he could to escape.

He stumbled again. This time Hesk lost her temper and hit him on the back of the neck with the side of the gun barrel.

'Get up you pathetic creep!' she yelled as he fell forwards onto his face in the thorns.

'Don't kill him yet!' Cox shouted, pulling Hesk back before she could start beating the fallen agent. 'There's plenty of time for that later. Let's just get him back first!'

It wasn't far now. Reid half crawled along the forest floor. Then Cox shouted for them to stop. There was a trap door set into the ground. Cox lifted the door and pushed Reid into the dark hole. There were no steps, and Reid fell into the dark damp hole and landed awkwardly on his side. He cried out in pain as he felt a rib crack and he tried to stand up. He looked up to the rectangle of light that was the trap door, and tried to get onto his feet, but the door was closed over him and he was left in absolute darkness in the hole.

He wasn't sure that his eyes were closed or open the darkness was that complete. He walked forward painfully to the rocky wall of the tomb. The hole was about six feet square, with dirt floor and rocky walls. Water was running down the walls and forming mud around the edges of the hole.

Reid sat down in the corner. He was starting to panic. What if there were animals down here? What if no one came for him? What if he was being left to die?

He bent up his knees and wrapped his arms around them.

What if......?

Reid felt a deep primeval fear as he rocked in the dark silence.


	2. Captive

**Hell's Fury  
**Chapter 2  
Captive

"_**I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death" – Robert Fulghum**_

Hotch.

He had seen Hotch get shot to death right beside him, and had done nothing to save him. He was dead, and there was now nothing to live for.

How could he carry on living in a world without Aaron?

He felt the tears of grief and guilt stream down his cheeks and he rested his face on his knees as he sat in his damp cold prison.

He imagined he saw creatures in the dark – blacker shadows in the blackness – and he wiped his eyes dry on his sleeve and stood up. He was frightening himself. He had to fight it.

That woman Hesk had murdered Hotch in cold blood, and for nothing, and the cab driver too. He needed to escape and bring the killer to justice. He had to avenge Hotch. Then he could think of himself.

He didn't want to get into that miserable rut of self pity. Not yet anyway.

They had to pay a price for taking Aaron's life, and he, Reid, would make sure they did pay.

First he had to get out of there.

He stood up and began running his hand over the walls of his tomb, starting as high as he could reach and feeling down to the floor. The wall was featureless rock, carved into the ground. The walls were running with water, forming mud where he stood.

Half way round the second wall he found something g that made his stomach lurch. Set deep into the rock were two rusted metal rings, just at shoulder height.

_Oh my god......_

But apart from that, there was nothing. Nothing that would aid in his escape. He would have to wait until the women came back. If they came back. It was possible that they were planning to leave him down here to die.

Reid felt a wave of despair wash over him as he thought about what had happened in the last few days. Hotch had been back at work, although Reid could see the pain in his eyes. He shouldn't have come back so soon. If he had stayed away, he would still be alive, not lying dead in the back of a car.

_Oh Aaron, Aaron, I am so sorry......_

Suddenly there was a sound in the silence of the tomb. He wasn't sure what it was at first, then he realised that it was raining. He felt water droplets fall on him as it seeped around the trap door. The floor on which he stood suddenly started to get really muddy. He went to a corner of the hole and stood leaning against the wall, and shivered in the cold. The sound of the raid grew louder as the fall became heavier. He could hear the splashing of the mud as the water landed on the floor of the hole. He stood against the corner and thought about Hotch, and how he had died for nothing and his resolve was strengthened to avenge him before he died.

-0-0-0-

Dave was pacing the waiting room when the doctor came in.

'Are you here for Aaron Hotchner?' he asked.

'Yes.' answered Dave, trying to read the man's expression.

'He has survived the operation.' he said, 'But he is still very sick, and on the critical list. You can observe him through the window, but I cannot allow him visitors yet.'

Dave nodded, and followed the doctor to the window into the Intensive Care Ward. He stood and looked at his friend on the other side of the glass.

Hotch was being ventilated, and had heart monitors on his chest. Through the window, Dave could hear the machines that were keeping him alive. His hair looked even blacker than usual against the white of his skin, and his dark eyes were taped shut.

Dave put his hands on the glass and rested his head on his hands. Hotch had been through so much, and to die now in a pointless shooting was such a waste.

_Come on, Aaron, you can fight this...._

There was no movement from the man on the bed.

-0-0-0-

Reid gradually sunk down until he was sitting on the muddy floor again. He concentrated on his goal as avenging Hotch. In fact that was all he could think about. When the trap door opened, he was on his feet in a flash.

He screwed up his eyes as a flash light was shone onto his face, and a woman, Cox, he thought, began to speak.

'I have brought you some thing to eat. You had better eat it as I don't know when we will be back this way again.

There was a splashing sound as a parcel was dropped down into the mud. Reid reached out for it and unwrapped the food – a sandwich and a small bottle of flavoured water. He drank the water thirstily, and was about to eat the sandwich when he realised that the water was drugged. He suddenly felt very sick, and he fell to the side. He felt his head hit the wall, and that was his last memory.

-0-0-0-

'Get the cuffs on him.' Cox said. Hesk bent down and placed hand cuffs on each of Reid's wrists. Then the two women lifted him up to the iron rings and attached the cuffs so that he was hanging by his wrists against the damp wall. He was on his knees in the mud, head hanging forwards, hair across his face.

'Ok, wake him up.'

Hesk took a syringe out of her pocket and removed the safety cover which she dropped on the floor. She pulled Reid's head up by the hair and injected the drug into his neck. Almost immediately he began to move. His eyes fluttered open and he looked up at the women. He tried to move his hands and realised that he had been chained to the rings he had found on the wall.

'What do you want?' he asked, his voice low and barely audible.

'You are here because you caused the death of Amos.' Cox said. 'You are going to suffer and die, as retribution for him.'

She held Reid's head up by the hair and punched him as hard as she could. His teeth dug into the inside of his cheek, and a trickle of blood ran down his chin.

'He was evil. He deserved to die.'

She hit him again, this time in the stomach. Reid curled forward the best he could and coughed. She pulled his head up again.

'He was an innocent man who went to prison for some one else's crime.' she raged, and she hit his face with the back of her hand. Her ring cut into the flesh of his cheek, and the blood ran down his face.

'The prison system is filled with people who claim to be innocent.' Reid said. 'Cunningham was evil. He almost killed....... Hotchner.' His voice faltered when he mentioned Hotch's name. They had succeeded in the end.

'You will be spending the rest of your life right here.' Cox said, and the women stepped away from Reid. The flashlight was resting on a step of the folding ladder that had allowed the women to descend into Reid's tomb. the women retrieved the light and ascended the ladder, pulling it into it's folded position after them.

Reid was left in the total darkness again, only this time he was chained up. He pulled fruitlessly at the rings, but they were deeply set in the walls and wouldn't move. He was tired, but he didn't think that he would be able to get any sleep. He tried to stand, the thick mud sucking at his legs as he attempted to get onto his feet. He refused to think that he was going to die in this hell hole, at least not before he had avenged Hotch.

-0-0-0-

Rossi and Prentiss watched Aaron through the window. The only movement was the steady rise and fall of his chest as the respirator breathed for him.

'I can't believe that after everything he has been through that a simple gunshot could leave him so close to death.' Emily said. 'It was all so senseless.'

She was voicing the thoughts that were rushing through Dave's head. he was finding it difficult to come to terms with what he was seeing.

If he dies.........

'Has Morgan got in touch with Reid yet?' Dave asked, and Emily took out her phone to call him, turning on the speaker

'Anything from Reid?' she asked.

'Nothing. It seems as if his phone is switched off.' Morgan said.

'He knows never to switch his phone off.' Emily said. 'I can't understand it.'

'He has the week off to make an important decision.' Dave said. 'He has probably turned it off to avoid distractions. Try calling his mother's hospital, see if they've heard from him yet.'

'Already done. Nothing.'

'Where the hell is he.' muttered Dave under his breath. 'He needs to know what's happening here. We could do with his input.'

'We need to find him.' Emily agreed. They both turned back to the window to the pale silent form of their Unit Chief.

-0-0-0-

'I can find the last place where the phone was on.' Penelope said. 'But now it's off, I can't locate it.'

She ran her fingers across the keys of her computer. 'There.' she said, pointing at her computer screen. 'The exact position of his phone before it turned off.'

Morgan took the co ordinates down. 'I'll take JJ and find out where it is.' he said, and quickly left the bunker.

He and JJ went down the lift to the car park. Their own cars were back now, and they took Morgan's car, and drove out of the underground car park and joined the traffic. They drove out past the city limits into the woodland and fields beyond. Suddenly, Morgan stopped the car.

'Why are we stopping here?' JJ asked. Isn't this where the cab was parked, where they found Hotch?'

'This is where Reid was when his phone turned off.' Morgan said, a puzzled frown on his face. He got out of the car and JJ followed. Morgan shone his flashlight into the narrow strip of trees that divided the main highway from the farm beyond. He pushed his way through the undergrowth. It looked as if someone had already been there. Some of the brambles were trampled down. Something caught his eye, and he bent down.

'Reid's phone is here.' Morgan said, picking it up with a latex glove. What is it doing here?'

'And there is blood here. Oh god, you don't suppose........ ' JJ said, a tremor in her voice.

'I don't know. I need to talk to Rossi.'

He took the phone and went back to the car. JJ looked around, and followed him.

'Maybe it wasn't a simple robbery.' Morgan said.

'It seems more like a hit.' JJ said. 'And Reid was still in the cab when Hotch was shot.'

'So where is he now?' Morgan said. 'We have to find him. And fast.'

-0-0-0-

Reid blinked in the darkness, trying to find a spot of light. He had been trying to get used to it before, and overcome his fear, and now that fear was back again. He felt the darkness pressing against him in every direction as if it had form and weight. The creatures were back, and as he hung helpless against the wall, he felt them brush against his skin.

'No.... ' he whispered. 'I am alone here, there are no creatures...' But still they plagued him and touched him teasingly until he screamed out loud in his terror.


	3. The Helpers

Hell's Fury  
Chapter 3  
The Helpers

"_**To love at all is to be vulnerable." C. S. Lewis**_

When the women returned, Spencer was near hysterical. They shone the flashlight onto him and Hesk grinned.

'A top Fed, and look at him!'

'Are you afraid of the dark?' Cox said. 'This is going to be even more fun than I anticipated.' She turned the light off and reached out and stroked his face. Reid jerked his head back, hitting the back of his head on the wall of the tomb.

'No!' he shrieked. 'Get away from me!'

Reid was on his knees in the mud. Hesk reached down and touched his groin. He tied to shuffle away from her until he was against the wall.

'Oh god!' he cried, panicking and helpless. 'Don't touch me.'

Suddenly she squeezed as hard as she could. Reid screamed in agony and tried to twist away from him. But she had him tight and didn't let go. Reid felt tears of pain spring up in his eyes. She twisted her hand, and Reid fainted, his weight being taken by the cuffs on his wrists. The metal dug in and blood ran down his arms.

Hesk's nails dug through the fabric of his trousers, and pierced the soft unprotected skin. The blood ran down his legs and at last she let go.

'Wake him up, Phoeb. It's no good if he can't feel it.'

Hesk lifted Reid's head and shook him awake. He blinked in the darkness, trying to overcome the agony. He felt tears flow and he couldn't stop them.

Cox leaned forward and kissed Reid on the mouth, and followed it up with a punch. Reid's teeth ground against his lips, and his mouth filled with blood. It ran from the corner of his lips and dripped onto his shirt.

'That's all for now.' she said. 'But we'll be back with some friends later. Enjoy the anticipation.'

Reid heard the creaking as the women climbed the ladder to the trap door, and the sound of the door closing.

Again the darkness, again the fear. Only now, Spencer was racked in pain. The agony rolled like waves into his abdomen, and he thought he might be sick. He tried to keep level headed, thinking about how Aaron had beaten conditions like these. He had survived, and he was his mentor, his exemplar, his love of his life. He could do this, if only to avenge him.

The darkness formed creatures of his imagination again, swarming over him and twisting through his limbs. He knew they were there, he could feel them touching him.

'Go away..... ' he whispered into the inky blackness. 'You don't exist.'

As if to prove their reality, they touched his neck and face. Breathing was an effort, and suddenly he thought it was too much. He hung his head down again, and bloody dirty hair fell into his crying eyes.

'Help me, Aaron...... please don't be dead....' and he fainted with exhaustion and fear.

-0-0-0-

Aaron was still lying in the hospital Intensive Care. The doctors had said that he could have visitors, one at a time, and Dave was sitting by his bed, talking on the phone to Morgan.

'It was a hit, Rossi. Hotch was hit, and we have no idea where Reid is.'

'We need the results of the DNA on the blood you found near the phone. If it's Reid's, we can be sure that he's been abducted.'

'Results will be in tomorrow. In the meantime, how are we going to trace Reid?'

'I'm coming in, Derek.' Rossi said. He closed his phone and took Aaron's hand.

'I have to get back to the BAU, Aaron.' he said. There was no response from the man on the bed.

-0-0-0-

'This wouldn't happen out of the blue.' Emily said. 'To hit Hotch like that and abduct Reid, there has to be history.

'Ok, so what do we have?' Rossi said. 'It could be a man or a woman.'

'We can't profile this guy. We have nothing.' Morgan said in frustration.

'But we do. We know that the UnSub is totally ruthless. He shot the driver in cold blood, and Hotch too. What are the reasons for a hit like that?'

'Other than gang related, revenge is the most common reason.'

'For both Hotch and Reid to be involved, it has to be a BAU case.' Emily said.

'Sift through the recent cases and see what you can come up with.' Rossi said. 'Start at the most recent.'

The three agents set to work.

-0-0-0-

The women sat at a table on the pavement, drinking coffee. Opposite them sat two men, listening intently to what the women were saying. They had worked together before, and were happy to fall in with the women's plan. One of the men, balding with long straggly hair, puffed on his cigarette. The other leaned forward with a leer on his face. Cox flinched back as a waft of stinking breath blew into her face.

'Anything? We can do anything?'

'That's what I said.' Cox tried to smile. 'He will be all yours. Only don't kill him. That's my pleasure.'

Hesk finished her drink. 'Now, or later?'

'Well, boys?'

'Now sounds good.' the balding man grinned. But we want paying up front.'

Cox sighed. 'Half now, half afterwards.' She took an envelope from her purse and handed it to him. 'If you kill him, you forfeit the other half.'

'Fair enough.' the other man said, holding his hand out for his share. 'So we go now.'

Cox pushed her cold coffee to the centre of the table. 'I'll drive. And you touch either one of us, you get no more money. It'll be worth waiting. He's a pretty boy.'

'Just a bit muddy!' Hesk laughed, putting the money for the drinks on the table.

The four of them left the table, and walked around the back of the building where the car was parked. They got in, Hesk next to Cox, the men in the back. Cox reversed out of the space and drove out towards the forest.

-0-0-0-

Reid was awake, hanging in the cuffs, and crying softly, talking to himself. He was frightened, and needed Hotch there. Knowing that Hotch was dead, and not looking for him paralysed him. He thought back to the time when he had been abducted for three days, and Hotch's strong comforting arms around him. He had said nothing, but Reid had felt the love. He tried to feel it again, but all he could see was Aaron's body covered with blood on the back seat of the car.

_Oh Aaron..... Aaron....... Why?_

When the trap door opened, a shaft of blessed sunlight poured into the tomb. Reid screwed up his eyes to try to see what was happening. He watched as four people came down the ladder. The first two looked like men, but he wasn't sure.

He climbed to his feet and pressed himself against the wall, as if he could hide. Rough hands grabbed at his wrists and undid the cuffs.

Before he could even think of escaping, he was thrown to the ground, face down in the mud. He turned his head sideways to breathe, as he felt the weight of one of the men on his back.

He struggled against the weight, and he felt someone's hands beneath his waist, undoing the button and zip of his trousers.

He knew then what was happening, and he struggled and fought to get away.

As if it was a macabre game, the weight lifted from his back, and he dug his fingers into the mud and pulled himself forwards. The when he was in the right position, the weight came down on his legs.

He couldn't fight any more. The man raped him viciously; Reid felt the blood running across his skin and into the mud where he was laying. He moaned softly in the pain of what was being done to him, and he squirmed under the weight of the man. When he had finished, which mercifully wasn't long, Reid didn't move. He was in too much pain even to try to get up. When the other man took his place across the back of his legs, he cried out in his agony.

This man took his time, and Reid's own blood ran freely. The man bit into the back of his neck and pulled his head up by a handful of hair. Reid took a deep breath as his face was pushed down into the mud. He heard a voice say, 'Don't kill him!' and the pressure lifted, and he turned his head to breathe again.

Teeth drew blood and it ran down the sides of his neck. He felt the man lick at his blood and he could smell his foul breath. Suddenly Reid was sick. It was too much for him.....

_Please, let it be over soon....._

The man on his back was finishing . As he reached the end, he pulled at Reid's hair and pulled his head back. Reid felt his neck crack as it bent too far back, and a new pain shot down his back.

Then the man climbed off him, and he felt them lift him up and re attach the cuffs.

He hung there semi naked, filthy and bleeding, sobbing with pain and misery.

_Aaron could survive this, so could he........_

His mind called out to his dead friend for strength and fortitude, but all he felt was terrible pain and hopelessness.

Would they find him? Or was he going to die down here?

Reid passed out.

He missed the applause of the women. The men had well earned the second part of their money.

'If you want us again, You have no need to pay us.' the balding man said with a grin. 'You were right, he is pretty. He's never had that before, I can tell you. He was a virgin!'

The other man laughed. 'He was for you!' he said. 'I want first next time!'

'It will be my pleasure to watch you first.' the balding man grinned.

The women followed the men up the ladder, and paid them the rest of the money.

'You can have him tomorrow too if you want, but like you said, you won't be paid again.'

'Meet at the coffee shop at ten thirty then.' he said, closing the trap door and plunging the terrified Reid into darkness again.

-0-0-0-

Reid whimpered and sobbed in his black tomb. He was semi conscious, and was vaguly aware that he was now alone with the creatures from his imagination. He was only partially clothed and the protection afforded by his clothes was gone. Something curled around his bare bloody legs and he screamed, pulling his legs back in an attempt to escape the ethereal creature, but like a tangible mist it crept up his body and slithered about his neck.

'Oh god, Aaron, help me!.......... ' he cried out in distress.

'The creatures are not real...... they are not real' He repeated the words like a mantra, willing the feelings to go away, and not quite succeeding.

He staggered to his feet to take the weight off his wrists, and leaned back against the wall. He knew his clothes were probably still in the mud, but he had no way to reach them. His abdomen hurt and his whole body ached, but the worst pain was inside, and he knew that he was bleeding a lot. He felt light headed from blood loss, and exhaustion. He was tired and thirsty. It had been two days now, and dehydration was the biggest most immediate danger.

Maybe that was how they were going to kill him.

His wrists were slippery now, and he pulled at the cuffs to try to release his hands, but the cuffs were too tight and he didn't have a chance.

His only chance was to be ready next time they unchained him. That was the only way he could escape. But there were four of them, and he was weakened now.

The Team would never find him. He was going to die in this filthy hole.


	4. Filming

Hell's Fury  
Chapter 4  
Filming

"_**The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself." – Mark Caine**_

Aaron could smell the hospital. He couldn't remember why he was there, and he tried to think what was happening. Gradually his sense of hearing started to return, and he could hear the soft monotonous rhythm of the life support equipment filling his lungs. He realised with a panic that he wasn't able to breathe on his own and his mind was snatched back to the awful time when he was drugged and kept alive by Cunningham.

He tried to struggle, but his limbs felt heavy and independent of his brain. He wanted to scream, but the tube in his throat prevented him from making sounds.

His eyes were still taped shut, and he felt a sudden dread. His heart rate soared, and a nurse ran into his room as an alarm sounded at the nurses' station.

'It's all right, Mr Hotchner, you are in hospital.' she said, gently touching his face. 'Keep calm, and I will untape your eyes.'

Aaron was thrashing on the bed, and the nurse softly stroked him to calm him. Gradually he pacified, and allowed the nurse to remove the tape covering his eyes.

He opened them and looked at the nurse with fear. He tried to raise his arms, and he couldn't do it.

'You were shot, Aaron.' she said gently. 'It was touch and go there for a time, but you are recovering well now.'

Aaron blinked at her to show that he understood. His heart rate gradually was going down, and he wasn't scared any more.

He had been shot, she said, but he couldn't remember when or where. He remembered having an evening out with the team, but that was all. He wanted to know more. He wanted the team.

'I will call the doctor and tell him you are awake. He may want to remove the tube that is in your throat, and I will call your friend David and let him know that you are awake now.' she said.

Aaron nodded slowly, and he watched as she left the ward.

He needed Dave and Spencer. He needed to know what had happened.

-0-0-0-

'He survived, Phoebe!' Cox said angrily. 'I have a cousin who works at the hospital, and Hotchner has spent the time since the shooting in the intensive care unit, recovering!'

'I was sure I killed him.' Hesk said, shocked. 'Even Reid thought that he was dead.'

'I want him dead. But in the meantime we can let him join in the fun.' Cox said. 'I have a camcorder, and we can send Hotchner a tape so he can see how the pretty boy is getting on. When he is out of hospital, you hit him again. This time, kill him.'

Hesk nodded. How could he still be alive. Shot in the chest with a .38 should have killed him at such short range.

The two women were at the coffee shop waiting for the men to join them. When they appeared, Cox was relieved. She didn't want to bring anyone else into the scheme. It was bad enough telling the men, but they could humiliate Reid better than they could ever do themselves. They smiled as the men sat down opposite them.

'Ready for some more?' Cox asked.

The balding man leered at her by way of reply.

'I want to knock him around a bit first today, but I promise you you'll get a go again.' she said. 'Ready?'

Cox stood up and Hesk and the men followed suit. The car was in the same place as before, Hesk paid the bill and the four of them went back to the car.

-0-0-0-

'Aaron's waking up.' Dave told the rest of the team. 'Carry on checking past cases, I'm going to the hospital to see what Aaron can remember.'

Without waiting for a reply, Dave picked up his coat and walked quickly to the elevator.

On the drive to the hospital, Dave tried to work out how he was going to break to Aaron that Reid was missing, possibly abducted, and they had no clue as to where he was. He understood a special bond existed between Aaron and Spencer, and he wasn't sure how Aaron would react. He was still very sick, and he didn't want to upset him, but he had to know what had happened if they were to get a start on finding Spencer.

When he arrived at the ICU, the doctor was removing the breathing tube from Aaron's throat, and Dave winced when he saw pain in Aaron's eyes. As soon as the doctor had left, Dave went and sat next to him and took his hand.

'Good to have you back, Aaron.' he said, and Aaron managed a thin smile. 'I need to ask you what you can remember about what happened. We have our own theories but it would be better coming from you.'

Hotch tried to speak, coughed and tried again. His voice was quiet and croaky, but he could speak.

'I remember we took a cab home and left the cars at the pub.' he said. 'Spencer and I were the last to get dropped off. I can remember it being just him and me in the cab. But I can't remember being shot. What happened? You will have to tell me.'

'The best we can make out is that you got shot when Reid was getting out at his apartment.' Dave said. 'The two of you were driven away, and then the cab was abandoned and the driver executed. You were left for dead in the back of the cab.'

'And Reid? Where is he?'

'That is the problem, Aaron. We found his cell phone near where the cab was abandoned, but we don't know what happened to him. We were hoping you could tell us.'

'He's been taken by whoever shot me?' Hotch said, instantly worried for his friend.

'It seems so.'

Aaron tried to get out of the bed. He lifted his legs and moved them to the edge of the bed.

'I'm coming in to work.' he said. 'We have to find Reid. I have to get out of here.'

'Aaron! You've only just woken up after being unconscious for two days. You're staying right here.' Dave said, pressing his hand gently on Hotch's chest. 'I'll keep you up to date on anything. But if you can try to remember what happened at Reid's apartment, we might be able to work out who hit you, and who has Reid.'

Aaron allowed himself to be pushed back down onto the bed. Just that little movement had hurt like hell, and he didn't think he would be able to stand up, let alone lead the team.

'Keep me updated – don't forget. And the second that I can, I'm out of here.'

-0-0-0-

Reid had howled and cried as the invisible creatures from his mind attacked and stroked him. He fought against it – he knew they weren't real. But they felt real, and they sounded real as they hissed into his ear what they were going to do to him. His face was stiff with tears and his arms slippery with blood from the hand cuffs.

He wanted to die. Aaron, the one who made life worth living, was dead. He was humiliated and filthy. He could never face the team after what he had allowed to be done to him. He had had the dignity ripped from him, and it hurt.

He wanted to avenge the man he loved, but he was destroyed.

He was finished.

He wanted to die.

-0-0-0-

The two women and two men were back at Reid's tomb. Hesk lifted the trap door, and shone her light down into the darkness. She reached in and released the ladder and the four of them descended into the hole.

Reid raised his head and looked at them through a veil of blood encrusted hair.

Cox stepped forwards and held his face in her hand.

'Today you are going to be recorded for posterity.' she said with a smile. She punched his face with her other hand and blood spurted from his broken nose. Then she started to hit him. He couldn't defend himself or move out of the way, and before long his face was a mess of blood and bruises. Then she stood back and took a photograph. She had a heavy branch off a tree that she had brought with her, and she instructed Hesk to videotape her beating him with it. The second time she swung it at Reid's chest, he felt ribs break, and something inside him popped. Blood ram from his broken lips and he thought that he would pass out. The next swing, and the branch broke across his side, and Reid threw up blood onto the mud at his feet.

She stopped hitting him, and Hesk recorded the two men undoing the cuffs that were holding him, and throwing him onto the floor.

Spencer was in too much pain to resist even a little. He gagged as the man's foetid breath blew into his face. The man sat across Reid's thighs, and the agonising pain began again. Reid concentrated his energy on breathing and not drowning in the mud. He vomited and coughed blood rising into his mouth from the damage the beating had done. He cried as the man violently took him, his fingers digging into his hips, leaving tiny arc shaped cuts. It seemed to take forever for him to finish, but when he was, he rolled off him, and the other man took his place.

Reid felt light headed, and he fainted beneath the weight of the second man, so he was mercifully spared the agony which he was put through. When it was over, the two men lifted his limp bloody body up and Cox cuffed him up again. He hung from the rings, unconscious and half dead. He was covered with blood and dirt, and had he been awake, he would have been in agony.

While still in the hole, the women watched the video recording.

Yes. It was perfect. Hotchner would enjoy watching it.

They climbed out of the hole, and closed the trap door behind them.

-0-0-0-

'A package has arrived for you, Mr Hotchner.' the nurse said cheerily. 'Would you like me to open it for you?'

Hotch was instantly alert. Who would send him a package in hospital? Hayley didn't know he was hurt – there seemed little point in telling her since she wouldn't care, and he wouldn't want to frighten Jack. Not until he was home again. He wasn't due to see his son for a week, so he had some time to recover before he had to say anything.

'No, it's ok. I'll open it.' he said. The nurse smiled and put the package on the bed by his hands.

Hotch felt the package carefully. It seemed to be a videotape. Carefully he opened one end and looked inside. There were no wires visible, and it sounded like a tape when he shook it.

He tipped the tape onto the bed, and some photographs fell out with it. He picked the photographs up and started in horror at the pictures.

They seemed to be of Reid, but he was so beaten up, it was hard to be sure. His hair was dirty and bloody and his half naked body was covered with blood and bruises. There were other people in the frame but Aaron couldn't identify them. He felt sick at what he was looking at. He turned the photos over. On the back of one was written, " Spencer Reid. Day two. There will be more. Enjoy the video."

'Reid! Oh my good god.' Hotch whispered. He put the photos face down on the bed and called the nurse back in again.

'Please, I need to call my colleagues.' he said.

'You are supposed to be resting, Mr Hotchner.' she said.

'It's important.' he said. 'Please.'

She nodded curtly and fetched him a phone to use. He called Dave.

'Please get here now. There's been a development.' he said.


	5. Gift Wrapped

**Hell's Fury  
**Chapter 5  
Gift Wrapped

"_**Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness." – Richard Bach**_

Dave slipped the video tape into the player in the conference room, and he sat down next to Morgan at the side, automatically leaving Hotch's chair vacant.

'This was sent to Hotch in the hospital. There were photographs with the tape, and you each have a copy of them.' he said.

He hit play and the five people in the room stared in horror at what they were seeing.

'Oh my god! They're......' Garcia whispered. No body else spoke as images of Reid's beaten body being abused, and the sounds of him crying in agony filled the room. Tears ran down JJ's cheeks. Emily wiped at her eyes. Garcia looked down.

'Hang on, Kid. We're going to find you.' Morgan said under his breath.

'Has Hotch seen this?' Emily asked.

'No not yet.' replied Dave. 'But he will want to. I need you all to study this. I want these UnSubs identified before it's too late. Find out where the video was made. We need to catch these people.'

Dave picked up a copy of the tape from the table in front of him.

'I'm going back to the hospital to talk some more to Hotch. He is the key to this, if he can remember what happened.'

'I want to get back to the crime scene, see if I can find anything else for the profile.' Morgan said as he stood up. 'There has to be something.'

After they left, the women watched the tape again, this time paying attention to the background.

'It looks like a cave of some kind.' Garcia said. 'I'll go and see if there are any caves around here that could fit the description.' She left the room, not feeling very optimistic about it. They had no idea how far away Reid was being held, no way to know how wide to cast the net. But if it was possible to find, she was the one who could do it.

Emily and JJ wound the tape back to the start and watched it again.

'We have two men and at least one other holding the camera.' Emily said.

'That other could be a woman.' JJ said. 'Otherwise they would want to join in. The third person is just a voyeur.'

'Garcia might be able to get a height for the men.' Emily said, looking at the photographs. 'That is a woman beating Reid in this picture.'

'The woman is probably in charge.' JJ said. 'It is unusual for the alpha male to stand back and let the woman do the beating.'

So we are looking at a case where the woman took the lead and has either done their time and is out for revenge, or never got caught.'

'That cuts the cases down we need to look at.' JJ said. 'Let's get started.'

-0-0-0-

'There's a video player in the day room.' Hotch said, trying to get out of bed again. 'I need to see it for myself.'

'It's pretty bad, Aaron. There is no need for you to see it.' Dave said, afraid of what seeing the images might do, but knowing in his heart that nothing would stop him from seeing it, and for that matter, nothing would keep him in bed afterwards.

'I'll find you a wheel chair, Aaron. Wait a minute.'

Hotch ignored him and slid carefully off the bed onto his feet. Dave stood next to him and wrapped his arm around him. Hotch put his arm over Dave's shoulder, and with a grimace of pain, he walked towards the dayroom.

'Fortunately there was no one in the day room so the two agents did not need to commandeer the room. Dave helped Aaron to a chair, and he went to the door and locked it. He put the tape in and stepped back with the remote control.

'Are you sure about this, Aaron. It's bad.'

'Just press play.' Aaron said, trying to disguise his impatience.

Then he saw it. He watched as Reid was released from the chains and flung to the ground. He watched as the two men raped him, and he heard Reid crying in pain. He saw the blood and filth that Reid was covered with, and he felt tears of rage in his eyes.

When it was over, he didn't say anything for a moment or two. Then when he spoke, he was the Unit Chief speaking.

'I need to get back to the office right now.' he said. 'Please organise my discharge forms for me to sign, and then You can drive me to work. I have a go bag in my office, so we can go straight there.'

'But Aaron, you.....'

'I need to work. I can't lie here while Reid is being beaten and raped. I need to see the pictures again. I have an idea whom it might be.'

-0-0-0-

Reid was alone in the hole again. He had cried until there were no more tears left. He cried for Aaron, he cried for his own impotence and inadequacy, his self loathing as he knelt in his own filth. He never wanted to be found, not now, not now he knew that the team had the tape. How could he ever face them now?

He howled like the dog that he felt he was, crying out in the darkness. The creatures were back, ethereal mists entwining through his body, only now they were invading his innermost being, his thoughts and motivations were being taken over by them.

'Aaron!' he cried, 'Please forgive me, I cannot avenge you now. I am going to die here, I am sorry.'

He was dehydrated, and was desperate for water, and he knew that there was water on the rocky wall behind him. But he lacked the energy to turn around and drink it. He only had the energy to die.

He cringed and whimpered as he saw light where the trap door was opening again, and the creak of the ladder falling into place.

The women were back. Alone this time.

'We don't want you dead yet,' one of them said, 'so we have brought you some water. Just enough to keep you alive.'

She stepped forwards and pulled his head up by his hair and held a bottle of water to his lips. Reid thought it could be drugged but he drank it anyway. After a few mouthfuls, the bottle was taken away.

Reid's eyes were closed. He wanted to open them, he knew that his only hope of getting out of here was to engage the women, get them talking. But he didn't want to live. Everything he lived for, his love for Aaron, his place in the team, his fragile self respect, everything had gone. All that was left was this empty beaten and abused shell of a man that just wanted it to all be over.

'Look at you. You are disgusting.' Cox said, pushing Reid to the wall.

'Filth.' Hesk added. 'The men will be back tomorrow. They seem to like you. Can't think why though. You stink.'

She pulled him forwards grabbing hold of a handful of his filthy hair.

'We are going to collect a little souvenir to go with the video.

Cox stepped forwards with a pair of scissors, and dug then into his scalp, removing a section of skin with hair attached. Reid didn't have the energy to fight it, and felt the blood run through the dried dirt on his face. He made little moaning sounds as Cox unchained one wrist and held his hand out to Hesk.

Hesk had the pliers. Reid realised what she was going to do and scrunched up his fingers. Cox hit him and pulled his little finger out straight. Hesk gripped the nail with the pliers and ripped it backwards, and removed it with a horrible sucking sound. Reid screamed, and Hesk held up the bloody nail for him to see. She put the nail in a gold patterned gift box next to the piece of scalp, and closed the lid.

'Your colleagues will enjoy this.' she said, taking care not to let Reid know that Hotch was still alive. 'All gift wrapped.'

She chained his wrist back up on the wall aqgain, and they went back to the ladder.

'Good night, Spencer Reid, and sweet dreams.'

The trap door was closed, and Reid was again in the dark with his agony and fear.

-0-0-0-

Morgan was back at the crime scene. He followed the broken vegetation wh ere Reid's cell phone had been found. The blood they knew was his now, and there was o doubt that this was the way that he had been brought.

The trail ended at a farm track. Morgan thought that there was probably another car here waiting. But where did it go from here?

There was only one way it could have gone. One way led to a farm, and the other way back to the road. He walked along the track towards the farm. Maybe they had seen something, although they had already been questioned, there was no harm in trying again.

He knocked on the door, and waited, looking around him. The place looked run down to him. He didn't know a huge amount about farming, but the curtains at the windows were dirty and the door was rotten.

A woman came to the door drying her hands on a tea towel. Morgan showed her his ID.

' I told you people everything. I didn't see anything. Please leave us alone.' she said, a glint of anger in her eyes.

'Have you seen any strange cars parked on your track, or seen any people around that you don't know?'

'No I told you already. Now clear off.'

Morgan gave her a card which she reluctantly took.

'If anything comes to mind, Mrs. Hesk, please call me.' he said, and turned away to walk down the track again.

'Nothing will.' she answered, and slammed the door.

Morgan could never understand people's hostility. He sighed and followed the track back along past where the car would have been parked, and down to the road. he looked both ways along the main road, and wondered which way the car would have turned.

Right, probably. To drive back past the cab at the side of the road. Most killers couldn't resist another look at their handiwork.

He turned right, and walked along the grass verge until he reached his car. He hadn't learned much, but he was interested in the Hesk woman. He would get Garcia to find out all she could about her.

-0-0-0-

The doctors were not at all happy with letting Hotch go.

'It is far too soon, Mr Hotchner.' he said.

'Just give me some pain meds, and I'll be fine. I can't stay here.'

'Just promise me that you will come back immediately you feel anything.'

'I will.' Hotch said dismissively, and took the prescription out of the doctor's hand. He allowed them the satisfaction of sending him home in a wheel chair, which was abandoned in the car park next to where Dave's car was parked.

Dave drove out of the hospital grounds, venturing a sidelong glance at Aaron.

His face was screwed up with pain and he was white and sickly looking. But Dave had tried everything to keep him at the hospital, and the best he could do was promise the doctor that he would watch Aaron very carefully.

They stopped off at a chemist to pick up the pain medication. Dave collected it while Aaron sat in the car. Then they drove straight back to the BAU

Hotch felt better now he was getting back to work. He went straight to the men's room where he waited while Dave got his go bag. Once he was in his uniform of suit and tie, he felt better still.

As they walked back to the bull pen together, Aaron leaning heavily on Dave, Someone came out of the lift with a package for Agent Hotchner.

Dave took the package for Hotch, and helped him to his office, where he sat down with considerable relief.

He took the package off Dave and tore open the envelope.

Inside there was a gold gift box.


	6. Killing Time

**Hell's Fury  
**Chapter 6  
Killing Time

'_**The death of a friend leaves a hole in the heart.' - Anton Rivers**_

Hotch looked at the gold box in the envelope. He knew he had to open it, but he hesitated.

'It's from the UnSub.' he said unnecessarily. Dave watched him carefully as Hotch tipped the box onto his desk and examined it. He noticed that the bottom corner of the box was stained red, and he held his breath as he slid off the top of the box.

'Oh my god.' he whispered, suddenly feeling sick.

There was no doubt that the hair was Reid's. There was blood and dirt on it and it was still attached to a strip of skin. Carefully he lifted it out of the box using a pen. Underneath he saw the bloodied nail, flesh still clinging to it.

He dropped the hair back in the box.

'Get it to the lab.' he said softly, the pain across his chest tightening as he fought down the feeling of nausea. 'I think I know who this is, Dave.' he said.

-0-0-0-

'Hesk, Phoebe. Address High Farm. Age thirty two, and a long record of petty crime.'

Garcia was reading her screen to Morgan who was standing behind her, his hands on her shoulders.

'There's something about her that I don't trust.' Morgan said. 'But I have nothing to base my suspicion on, she just makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.'

'Maybe you ought to go back out to see her.' Penelope said. 'She might give something away.'

'I have no reason. I would like to watch her though. Something's not right with her.'

-0-0-0-

'The damned Feds have been up here again, Marine.' Hesk said into the telephone.'

'What the hell are you doing telephoning me.' Cox shouted. 'I'm coming up to see you. Never call me.'

Hesk sat in her dirty kitchen with a mug of tea. She had been totally un nerved by the big black guy who had visited her. She decided to tell Cox that she'd had enough (Although she wanted more of the young agent they had captive) and she wanted out. It would take Cox about thirty minutes to get to the farm. She sat biting her nails and sipping tea and waited.

When Cox finally arrived she approached the farm house from the other side and knocked on the back door. Hesk let her in.

'You idiot, phoning me. Now we are connected, and the cops will be able to trace the call back to me.' she said as soon as she was in the kitchen.'

'I had to call you.' she replied. 'I needed to warn you. And I don't want to do it any more. You can keep him in the hole until he dies, then I don't want anything to do with it. The cops are getting too close.'

Cox put her hand in the pocket of her skirt where a small .22 nestled. She held it in her hand. She was going to have to use it. Hesk was becoming a liability.

'Are you sure it's what you want, Phoeb?' she asked. 'Reid is on your land and you will be implicated if we are caught.'

'I don't use most of the land.' Hesk said. 'I will simply deny it. There's nothing to connect me.'

'Except the phone call, you idiot.' Cox shouted back.

Hesk sat down at the old farm table. Cox sat opposite her and watched her carefully, fingering the gun in her pocket.

'I'm sorry, Phoeb, but I'm going to have to do this.' she said, and quickly pulled the gun out of her pocket, As Hesk got up to get away, Cox discharged two bullets. One missed, the second hit Hesk in the neck, and arterial spray shot across the kitchen and hit the wall. Hesk clutched at her throat, and made a gurgling sound as she fell back onto the quarry tiled floor.

'Sorry Phoeb.' Cox said to her dying friend. 'But I don't trust you any more.'

-0-0-0-

Hotch was watching the video tape again, trying to home in on the voices on the tape. He was sure the woman on the tape was the same woman who had escaped justice after the last case, but he was finding it difficult to concentrate, with the terrible images of Reid in the forefront.

He was taken back in his mind to recent times when he too went through the same thing, and how dirty and humiliated he felt afterwards. Now his young protégé was going through the same thing, and all because he saved his and Dave's lives. The guilt he felt was tearing him apart, and he had to concentrate all his power to listen to the voices on the tape, and not get wrapped up in his own guilt.

He leaned forwards and switched it off. Now he was certain. The woman was Marine Cox, Amos Cunningham's girl friend.

He picked up the phone and called Dave.

'Can you get the team together in the conference room........... and could you help me get down there....... thank you.'

He put down the phone. This was a break through. Dave came into his office.

'Would it be easier to have the meeting in here, Aaron. I don't think the team would mind.'

'I'm fine.' Hotch answered, as Dave reached out to support him walking down to the conference room.

With his arm over Dave's shoulder, and Dave's around his back, Hotch painfully walked to short distance. The rest of the team were waiting for him. He sat down, Dave sat next to him.

'The UnSub on the tape is Marine Cox, Amos Cunningham's girl friend. She has singled out Reid because he was instrumental in the death of Cunningham, and this is why she had a vendetta against him.'

'The woman from our last case.' Emily said. 'We have her in our list of possibles.'

'There are at least two men involved too. We need to find her close known associates and track these men down.'

'I'm on it.' Garcia said, and left the room.

'I want you all to watch the tape again to try to identify the men, anything about them to give us a lead.'

'I have a suspicion', Morgan said, 'that the woman Hesk who lives at High Farm may know more than she's letting on.'

'Bring her in.' Aaron said. 'Talk to her here. It might be more conducive of getting information. Take JJ with you'

Morgan left, and JJ followed him on her assignment.

'I'll help Garcia.' said Emily and followed the others out.

'Aaron, are you ok?' Dave asked, as Hotch tried to stand.

'I feel a bit........ ' and Hotch collapsed onto the floor.

-0-0-0-

Cox was driving back across the fields to her own home – a tiny hut in the woods. She was sorry she had had to kill Phoebe, but it was necessary, and in the overall scheme of revenge, it was a small price to pay.

She quickly changed out of her blood sprayed clothes and into a grubby white shirt and navy skirt. She was going to meet the men again. They had told her they wanted more of the sweet young captive, and armed with her camcorder, she drove out to the coffee shop where she was to meet them.

The man were there waiting, eager for their entertainment. She looked at them across the table and despised them. Filthy scum she thought they were, but they served a purpose she couldn't carry out by herself.

'Where's the blonde.' the balding man asked.

'None of your business. Do you want this or not?'

The other man grinned, showing a crooked line of yellow brown teeth.

They followed her back to the car and she drove them to the hole. Once again, the men were looking forward to abusing the young agent, and getting away with it.

-0-0-0-

Spencer had only just regained consciousness after the last beating and rape. He was trying to remember where he was, and why it was so dark.

Why had they left him in the dark? They knew he didn't like it.

'Don't leave me here.' he whimpered as the creatures from his mind twisted around him, through his hair and into his mouth and nose.

'I'm thirsty.' he cried softly.' Please help me.'

There was no one there to answer him, and he hung there in his pain and distress, waiting for what ever was to happen next.

Hours passed and the trap door opened, and the woman who had given him a drink came down the steps.

Maybe she would give him a drink again.

'Please, I'm thirsty.' he said to her.

She ignored him, and pushed him against the wall. She uncuffed him and he fell at her feet, his head down in humiliation and shame. The men grabbed him and laid him out straight on the floor and raped him again.

Cox videotaped it delightedly as he moaned and cried under the weight of the man. When it was the second man's turn, he turned Reid over and raped him from the front, his hips cracked horribly as the man took him hard and violently, biting at him and breathing foul breath on him and holding him around the neck.

Reid looked up at him with wide frightened eyes, pleading with him to stop.

When he eventually did stop, Reid was unconscious again.

Chaining him up again was easy now. She attached one hand to the ring in the wall. As Cox put Reid's second hand into the cuffs, the balding man grabbed her from behind. The camcorder fell out of her hand as she was pushed to the ground and her clothes ripped off. The man with the stinking breath thrust himself upon her as she screamed and struggled under him. She raked at his face with her nails and tried to hold her legs together, but to no avail.

When he had finished he held her down so that the balding man could do her the same. He raped her and abused her with the wooden club she had brought to beat Reid with , and when he had finished, they climbed the ladder and closed the trap door.

They took her car and drove away from there. They knew they wouldn't be going back there again, but doing Cox was the right thing to do, and they enjoyed it.

-0-0-0-

'I'm all right. I'm all right.' Hotch said, as Dave fussed over him. 'I was just a little light headed that's all.'

'You should be back in hospital, Aaron. This could kill you.'

There's something wrong, Dave. Something I've missed. Go over everything that has happened to me since this started. I know I've missed something.'

Dave went over the sequence of events from Aaron's perspective. It wasn't until he recalled the arrival of the second package that Aaron interrupted him.

'That's it! ' he said, trying to stand up. 'Dave there's someone at the hospital who is working with Cox. The first package was sent to me in the ward, but the second came here, right when I discharged myself. How did she know?'

'I'll get Emily onto it.' Dave said. I'm not leaving you.' Dave pushed four chairs together and made Hotch lay down across them. 'Just try to relax. We're closing in now. We'll have Reid back very soon.'

'I hope so.' Aaron said. He didn't say that he wondered what condition the man would be in though.

-0-0-0-

Cox could hardly stand up. She was bleeding and hurting, but more than that, she was enraged. She went up the ladder one step at a time, wincing in pain of the abuse, and opened the trap door. The bastards had taken her car.

She went back down into the hole. Reid was hanging by one arm, and she suddenly let all her rage out on him. She picked up the bloody piece of wood and started to hit him with it. She got no response from the unconscious man, so she shook him awake and hit him more. He curled his body away from the beating, his back to her. The wood broke again across his spine, and he passed out in agony.

'This is your fault!' she screamed, mad with rage, hitting his back until blood flowed like a river down his back. She found the camcorder on the floor and filmed him hanging there, covered in blood dirt and human waste. 'This is your fault, you filthy perverted scum!'

She kicked him in the groin, but he didn't react. He was deeply unconscious now.

She painfully climbed the steps out of the tomb, and closed the trap door over him.


	7. Closing In

**Hell's Fury  
**Chapter 7  
Closing In

"_**Run like hell and get the agony over with." – Clarence DeMar**_

Morgan pulled up outside the farm house, and he and JJ got out and went to the front door. Morgan knocked, but there was no reply. JJ left Morgan and looked through the adjacent window.

'Hey Morgan. I think we had better get in there.'

Morgan joined her and peered through the dirty window onto a scene that he's never forget. Hesk was lying on the floor with her hands at her throat, and there was blood everywhere, even on the window through which they were looking.

'I don't think there's much help for her.' Morgan said, and went back to the front door and let himself in.

The door opened into a large hallway that once would have been pleasant. Now it was run down and neglected. The door to the left led into the kitchen, where Phoebe Hesk had died. Ho got his phone out and called the crime scene unit.

'I'm sure she's involved, even more so now.' he said. He looked at the phone and hit redial. The phone rang and rang but no one picked up. He got his own phone out again and called Garcia.

'Can you trace all the numbers that were called from here in the last two days. It could give us a clue as to who the killer was.' he said. After he closed the connection, they waited for the crime scene unit to arrive, and they made their way back to the BAU.

-0-0-0-

Cox sat alone and miserable in the hut. She was in a lot of pain, especially after having to walk back there from the hole. She was still bleeding, and it hurt to sit. She stretched herself out on the bench she used as a bed, and considered what had happened.

Those filthy men had known that she couldn't do a damned thing about them. They had hurt her, and were going to get away with it. She was fuming. It was only because of getting rid of Phoebe that they had dared to touch her.

Suddenly she jumped as her phone ranr. She stared at it. No one knew the number, except Phoebe, and she was dead. When it stopped ringing she picked it up and took the sim card out and broke it into tiny pieces, and then smashed the phone under her foot. She realised she was shaking.

She played back the video recording on the tiny screen on the camcorder. That cheered her up, especially when Reid was turned over. Hotchner would get a good look at his face this time. It was a pity that this was the last tape she could send, but she had had her way, and now the price of revenge had been paid.

Almost.

Aaron Hotchner was still alive.

-0-0-0-

Garcia cross referenced the hospital staff with Marine Cox, and found someone. Emily was working at the desk next to her.

'I've got something! she said excitedly. 'Cox has a cousin who works as a cleaner at the hospital. He would have been able to tell Cox where Hotch was.'

'I'll get Dave.' Emily said, and called the conference room, where dave was still sitting watching Aaron, making sure he stayed on the chairs. Hotch was anxious to get up and work, but Dave wouldn't let him.

'You will be no good to Reid if you kill yourself.' he admonished. 'Try to sleep, even iof only for an hour or so.'

'I couldn't possibly sleep.' Aaron replied.

When Emily called him, he had to leave Aaron and go to Garcia's bunker.

'What have you found?'

'Cox has a cousin who works in the hospital as a cleaner. He might have told her about Hotch.'

'Nate Cox.' Dave read out loud. 'Emily, with me. Let's bring him in. Garcia, keep an eye on Hotch.'

-0-0-0-

Morgan and JJ arrived back at the BAU and went straight to Garcia's bunker. She was working on the phone calls, and was just getting the resultsn on the screen when Morgan came in.

'Phoebe Hesk called Cox at three fifteen.' she said.

'That is about an hour before she was killed.' Morgan said. 'It was probably cox who killed her.'

'She has a cousin who works at the hospital.' Garcia said. 'Emily and Rossi are bringing him in now.'

'He might be able to tell us where Cox is holed up.' Aaron stood, pale and gaunt, leaning on the door frame. JJ got him a chair and he sat down gratefully. 'And I have been sent another video tape.'

He passed the tape to Garcia who put it in her machine. The five of them watched the scene on the tape. It was more horrible than before, if that was possible, because now, Reid wasn't fighting. When he was turned over, hotch saw clearly the pain and pleading in the young agent's eyes as he was violated on screen for them. Hotch felt tears come into his eyes. Garcia and JJ cried unashamedly.

'Turn it off.' Hotch said Quietly, and put his hand out for the tape. He stood on shaky legs and hanging onto the wall, he took the tape back to his own office and locked the door.

He put the tape on his desk and pressed his eyes with the heel of his hands. This was awful. Reid looked dead in the video, but hopefully he had just fainted. He knew the pain involved; the physical agony of the rape and the emotional turmoil that comes after. He hoped that he would be able to be a support to Reid when they found him. If, god help them, they found him alive.

He rested his head on the desk and cast hisw mind back to how Reid had been there for him when he was going through it. How supportive he had been.

And he was willing to transfer him to another unit.

If they got Reid back alive, he would want him close.

Aaron wiped a tear from his eyes and blinked back the flood of tears that was threatening to pour down his face.

'We're going to get you back, Reid. I promise, I will not rest until we have found you.'

-0-0-0-

Dave and Emily arrived at the hospital just as the cleaning staff were having a break.

'We are looking for Nate Cox.' Dave announced, flashing his ID.

'That's him, over there.' the woman pointed to a middle agaed man who looked as if he needed a good clean himself. Dave and Emily went over to him. Nate saw them coming and fell over his chair in his hurry to get away.

'Nate Cox, we want to talk to you about your cousin, Marine.' Dave said. 'You can either talk here or at the FBI head quarters. Either way, you will lose your job for sharing confidential information.'

Nate got off his knees where he had fallen, and walked out of the smoky room in front of Dave and Emily. Tey led him back to the car and put him into the back seat. Dave got in next to him, and Emily drove them back to the BAU.

-0-0-0-

'We want to know about your cousin Marine.' Hotch said to the man sitting across the table to him. 'I understand that you shared information with her concerning me; where I was and when I was discharged.'

Nate nodded, not taking his eyes off his hands in his lap. 'Do I need a lawyer?' he mumbled.

'You are not under arrest. We are trying to find your cousin. We were hoping you would be able to help us find her.'

'She's on the run, isn't she, ever since the cops shot that good for nothing boyfriend of hers. Cunningham I think his name was.'

'Where is she hiding.' Aaron said tiredly.

Hotch had insisted on interrogating Nate Cox, against Dave's better judgement. Dave stood by the door, keeping a close eye on Aaron. He looked sick.

'I couldn't tell you. All she wanted to know was where you were; in the ward or at home. I just told her when you went home. That's all. Marine has a friend called Phoebe Hesk who lives out on some farm. She might know where Marine is.'

Dave stapped forward and banged on the table. 'Hesk is dead. Shot and left to bleed out. Now where is she?'

'Dead?' Nate looked genuinely shocked. 'Phoeb is dead?' Nate started to cry.

'Yes and we think Marine shot her. So where is she?'

'She said something about a hut on Phoebe's farm where she was sleeping. But Phoeb's farm land is huge. I don't know where it is.'

'Cut him loose.' Hotch said to Dave, and turning to Nate, he added, 'Don't leave town. We might want to talk to you again.'

Dave escorted Nate out of the interview room, and as soon as he was gone, Hotch put his head on the table. He felt light headed and sick. And now he had to watch the video again. Just in case he had missed something.

-0-0-0-

Reid was drifting in and out of consciousness. The creatures of the darkness had left him now, and although he had pleaded with them to come back, they had stayed away, and the stillness and emptiness as overwhelming. He had tried talking to himself, but it took too much energy, energy that he needed to keep himself alive.

He thought about what life was going to be like at the BAU without Hotch and now without him. He was planning to transfer anyway, but the BAU without Aaron was unthinkable.

Reid tried not to cry, but it happened anyway. He imagined some one would find his remains sometime in the future, and no one would know who he was or how he got there. He turned his head and looked up at the single cuff from which he was hanging. Why only one? He couldn't remember. It was just too high to allow him to sit down, not that he thought he would be able to anyway. He thought his hip was dislocated, and he couldn't move it. He hurt all over from the beatings and abuse, and he wished he could die. Just wish for it and let it happen, but his survival instinct always stepped in, and here he was, in the edge of life with nothing on either side.

'I am so sorry, Aaron. I am sorry that I let you die. I would have taken the bullet for you. I love you, Aaron. I am so sorry I failed you. I am so sorry.......'

-0-0-0-

Aaron put the tape on. He didn't want the rest of the team to see it again. It wasn't necessary. The tape was for him. It had his name on it, and he watched it alone.

When Reid was on his back, he looked at the camera. His eyes were wide and looked straight into Hotch's eyes. He remembered those eyes, soft hazel eyes that were so expressive, now reflecting shame and self loathing. They seemed to pierce into Aaron's very soul.

Reid was naked except for a ragged shirt that clung to his arms, the rest of his clothes were gone. Aaron paused the tape and looked away. It was killing him to watch this. There were no clues on it, just his friend being slowly killed.

They had to get Cox, and make her talk. Even if they arrested her, if she chose not to tell them where he was, they were stumped.

Before watching the rest of the tape, he called the lab.

'Did you get anything useful from the hair and the nail?' he asked, trying to keep his voice even. To him though it sounded choked as if he had been crying.

'There was some soil in the hair and behind the nail.' the techie replied. 'We are looking to see if the soil was specific enough for us to determine where it came from.'

'Please, it is most urgent. The agent's life depends on us finding him. Please put it as top priority.'

After the call, he pressed play again, and watched his friend being raped again.

And there was nothing he could do.

When the tape finished, he felt tears run down his face as he cried for his friend and colleague.


	8. The Hole

**Hell's Fury  
**Chapter 8  
The Hole

"_**Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.**__**" ANON**_

'I think Phoebe Hesk had something to do with the kidnapping.' Morgan said.

Aaron looked up at him from behind his desk. 'I think you are right. Nate Cox reacted when we told him she was dead.'

'Also, she had telephoned Cox about an hour before her death. I think it would be beneficial to search Hesk's land. There are many places on her farm where Reid could be held.'

'It looked like a cave of some kind on the video.' Hotch said, the pictures still so vivid in his mind. 'call the lab and see if they have got anywhere with the soil that was in the lock of hair that was sent to me. It might be able to narrow down the area where he is.'

Morgan hurried back to his own desk and picked up his phone. He wondered why Hotch had asked him to do it, but when he looked back up into Hotch's office, he saw Hotch rub his eyes and rest his head on his desk, he understood.

The lab had found something. The soil was from an area that was like a swathe cutting through Hesk's farm. The interesting thing was that the swathe of soil was six or more feet underground, not at the surface. They sent an image of the map showing the area to Morgan's lap top. He in turn sent it to Garcia, then he went himself to Garcia's bunker.

'It's this area here.' he told her. 'Is there anywhere in this area where Cox might be holding Reid?' he said. 'Caves or such like.'

'I'm on it.' she replied, glancing at him with red sore eyes.

-0-0-0-

Aaron was close to collapse. His chest was hurting, and looking down, he saw that blood had seeped through the dressing on his gun shot wound and onto his shirt. He was tired to the point of exhaustion, and knew that for his own health he ought to be in hospital. But he couldn't rest until Reid was safe.

He saw Dave coming across the walkway towards him, and he hastily buttoned up his jacket to hide the blood.

'I'm having Nate Cox followed.' he said. 'I'm hoping he will lead us to Cox.' He eyed Aaron suspiciously. 'Are you all right?' he asked, looking at Aaron's buttoned jacket.

'I.... uh.... The wound is bleeding, but it's ok. It's only a little bit.'

Dave turned and locked the door. 'Show me.'

'It's only a little bit.' Aaron said wearily, knowing this was one he wouldn't win. He unbuttoned his jacket and showed Dave the bloody stain. 'Just until we have found Reid. Then I'll go back to the hospital.'

For a moment, Aaron thought that Dave was going to insist on his going back now. But after a few moments of silence, Dave said, 'Then please go and lay down in the lounge. I can watch things here, and as soon as we have anything new, I will come and wake you.'

Aaron stood, leaning on the desk with both hands.

'Ok. Call it a compromise. But you must get me if there are any developments.'

'I promise.' Dave said, reaching out to steady his boss. 'Let me help you.'

-0-0-0-

Nate ran through the trees, oblivious of the two cops following him. He had to get to Marine and warn her, and tell her that Phoebe was dead. It didn't enter into his ind that Marine had killed her. All he knew was that Marine had introduced him to her, and he thought he loved her. He crashed through the trees until he came into the clearing where the little hut stood. He ran to the door, panting for breath.

'Marine! It's me, Nate!' he shouted as he hammered on the door.

There was no reply from within the hut, and Nate carefully opened the door and stepped inside.

'Police! On the floor, or I will shoot you.' a voice came from behind him. Nate got on his knees with his hands up.

'I haven't done anything!' he cried as the cops cuffed him behind his back and hauled him to his feet.

'You have.' came the reply. 'You have led us to Cox's hide out.

There was nothing to be found in the hut aside from evidence that someone had been living there. A bench had been made up as a bed, and there was evidence of food and drink.

But no UnSub. Where ever she was, it wasn't here.

Nate was taken back to the FBI building and charged with withholding evidence.

-0-0-0-

'So where is she now?' Morgan asked.

'I have no idea. She should have been at the hut.' Nate wailed. 'I don't know where she is. What has she done?'

Morgan ignored the question and carried on questioning him. 'You lied to us in an official interview. Do you realise how much trouble you are in?'

'What happened to Phoebe?' he asked, his eyes wet with tears.

'Your cousin killed her.' he replied, and noted the profound shock on Nate's face.

-0-0-0-

'There are no natural caves or caverns along this strip of land.' Garcia said. 'The ground is rocky, but the subsoil, as found on Reid's lock of hair, is soft and mostly clay.'

'There has to be, Princess.' Morgan said. 'It is the only clue we have as to Reid's whereabouts. If he's not there, we have no idea where to look.'

'There is one thing we could look at.' Dave said from the doorway. He had just got back from the lounge where Aaron was now sleeping. 'In the civil war, people hid relatives and sympathisers in pits in the ground, especially in areas like this, where there were trees and undergrowth to hide them. See if there are any such hides in Hesk's land.'

Garcia worked her magic on the computer, and after a few moments was able to announce that yes, there was at least one such hide on Hesk's land. She downloaded the co ordinates into the PDAs of the team.

-0-0-0-

Hotch had slept for about ten minutes when Dave reluctantly woke him.

'We think we know where Reid is.' he said.

Aaron tried to get up, but the pain tightening across his chest made it impossible for him to even move.

'Help me.' He put his hand out for Dave, who took his elbow and pulled him gently to his feet.

'Aaron, there will be a lot of walking. Are you sure that you are up to this?'

'I promise as soon as I know that Reis is safe, I will relax. But I can't until then, Dave. I have to come with you. You can fill me in on the way there.'

-0-0-0-

The cars parked on a track as close to the hide as possible, and the team began walking through the undergrowth . Aaron was at the back with Dave. They walked in silence, Morgan and Emily in front. It was night but there was an almost full moon and it was fairly esy going through the trees.

Aaron felt sick with anticipation. The last image of Reid had been of him lying dead or unconscious on the floor, and Aaron and his team had no idea what they would find, that is if he was even there. But like Morgan had said, if he wasn't there, they had no where else to look.

Suddenly, as they neared the place where they hoped Reid was lying, they heard something. It sounded like a gun cocking. Straight away, they were on alert, and had their guns drawn. Dave left Aaron and joined the others in front.

The shot they heard came from behind them. Dave spun round in time to see Aaron fall to the ground. He ran forwards towards him, when another shot split the air. he threw himself down, and the bullet hit the tree behind him.

Emily and Morgan crouched in the bushes, watching the scene and scanning for the shooter, but the shadows cast by the moon made it difficult to make anything out.

The bullet had hit Aaron in the leg and he had gone down, his gun falling from his hand. He tried to reach his ankle holster. He looked up as a woman stepped out of the trees and pointed her gun at him.

'This is for Amos.' she said and raised her weapon. There was a shot, and Aaron closed his eyes, expecting to die.

But the shot came from Dave's gun, and Cox crumpled to the ground.

'We are at the right place.' Hotch whispered, struggling to remain conscious, as Dave and morgan rushed forwards to check on Cox.

She was dead. Dave removed her weapon from her hand and placed it in an evidence bag which he then placed in his pocket. Then he went to Aaron.

'Are you hit?' he asked.

'Leg.' gasped Aaron. 'Not too bad.' He screwed up his eyes to try to alleviate the pain. 'Go find Reid.'

-0-0-0-

Reid heard the gun shots from his underground prison, and dared to hope that rescue was coming. He called out for Rossi, but his voice was harsh and broken, and his throat was dry and brittle, and he could hardly hear it himself.

Then he remembered that these people had seen the tapes, and he feared being rescued at all.

He hung his head in shame and self loathing, and wished that they would leave and not find him. He was close to death, and the women hadn't been back for a long time. he wouldn't have long to suffer now. A few hours, he thought and he would be dead.

He thought of Aaron, and was glad that his end was quick. But he wished that he hadn't had to die.

Suddenly there were voices, and he recognised David. He opened his sore eyes and looked to where he knew the trap door was.

_Please, let them pass by and not find me....._

But the door opened, and flashlight beams cut through the darkness.

-0-0-0-

As Dave opened the trap door, the smell hit him like a wall. He shone his flash light down the hole, and saw mud, and filth and blood. Hanging from a ring at the opposite side of the hole was a man. He assumed it was Reid, but it was difficult to tell. The man was filthy and naked. He was covered with dried blood, and his long hair was stiff and dirty.

He pulled down the ladder, and descended into the hell. He crossed the floor of the hole, and took the man around the waist.

'I need some bolt cutters down here!'

They were passed down to him and he released Reid's hand from the ring, and caught him as he fell into his arms. he took off his jacket and wrapped him in it, took him up into his arms, and carried him up the ladder out of the hole.

It wasn't until they had got him out of the hole, and were able to look at him properly that they knew for certain that it was Reid.

Dave looked up from where he was sitting with Reid on his lap. Aaron was standing, leaning against a tree, tears in his eyes.

'Is he alive?'

Dave stood up and carried Reid to Aaron, who took Reid in his arms. Reid looked up at him.

'Aaron.' was all he could say, and he clung onto his friend as if his continued life depended upon it. He sobbed and cried as it gradually crept into his mind that Aaron was alive.

Aaron sank to the ground and held Reid close to him, feeling his heart beat, and the soft rise and fall of his chest against his own.

'It's ok, Spencer, we have you now. You are safe now.'

'Aaron.' Reid whispered. He wanted to say so much more, but the shock of seeing the love of his life was still living had stripped all the words from him.

Dave bent down next to them and tried to take Reid back. Aaron shook his head.

'You need to give him up, Aaron. We need to help you get back to the cars to get you both to hospital.'

Reluctantly, Aaron allowed Dave to take Reid, and Morgan put his arm out to help Hotch get up. Hotch leaned on Morgan as the five of them returned through the trees back to the cars.

In the back of the car, Aaron sat with Reid back in his arms. He held him tight, and rested his head in Reid's hair. It didn't matter to him that he was dirty and bloody, it only mattered that Reid was alive, and he could hold him.

Reid was in shock. Not just the rescue, but even more, feeling the strong arms around him. He imagined it was how a child would feel in the arms of his father – a feeling he had never had. He closed his eyes and relaxed against Aaron's body, at peace regardless of the physical pain he felt.

Dave drove the car, and Emily and Morgan took the other SUV, and they made their way to the hospital.


	9. Healing

**Hell's Fury  
**Chapter 9  
Healing

"_**As long as he needs me." Words of a song by Lionel Bart**_

Aaron fussed as the nurse redressed the chest wound and stitched the wound on his leg. He didn't want this. he wanted to gather his team, like a mother hen gathers her chicks. He wanted to shout 'Go away!' to the nurse, but logic won out, and he let the nurse finish

It had been difficult to loosen his grip on Reid when they arrived at the hospital. Reid had lost consciousness on the way, and Hotch kept hold of him. Feeling him so close made him realise just how important he was to him. Over the past week he had not had time to address his feelings, but he had decided on that drive to the hospital that Reid could never transfer out of the BAU. Although he could never love Reid in a romantic way, he knew that he did love him, and wanted to be able to watch him like a father does a beloved child.

He looked across the room to Dave who was talking with a doctor. If it was about Reid he wanted to know.

'Any news?' he asked as the nurse finished stitching his leg.

Dave came over.

'Reid is in the OR.' Dave said. 'He has several broken and dislocated bones, and internal injuries. They can save him though; he's going to be fine.'

'Physically, maybe.' Hotch said, gently pushing the nurse away. 'I think he will need a lot of support mentally though.'

Dave lowered his eyes. He knew exactly what Hotch meant. Hotch himself had been raped and tortured only a few months back. He understood. Dave was glad that Reid had Aaron to help him.

Hotch swung his legs off the table he was sitting on, and tried to fight the wave of nausea that the movement sent like a wave through his body. He tried to stand, and stumbled as his knees folded under him. Dave was there in an instant, preventing him from falling all the way.

'You're not ready yet, Aaron. I'll find you a wheel chair.'

There was one in the corridor just outside the cubicle. The nurse smiled at Dave as he collected it.

'I thought he'd need that.' she said.

Dave smiled back and wheeled the chair over to Aaron, and lifted him into it.

'Let's go and find the others.'

-0-0-0-

In the OR, the surgeons had almost finished with Reid. The damage was plated and stitched, and his broken nose was set. The worst break was a cracked pelvis that would take some time to heal, but he was safe now. He wouldn't die of his injuries.

A wide bore saline and glucose drip replaced lost electrolytes and re hydrated him.

But he wouldn't wake up.

They took him back to a ward, and went to find his friends.

-0-0-0-

Hotch saw the doctor first and his sentence trailed off as he approached.

'Is he....... is he ok?' Hotch asked tentatively.

'We have done everything that we can.' he said, 'but he is taking a long time to wake up. Maybe one of you could sit with him and talk to him.'

'I will.' Hotch said straight away. 'Please, would you take me to him?'

'I'll come too.' Dave said.

Morgan and Emily promised to come back later and relieve them. Dave pushed Hotch in the wheel chair after the doctor, who led them to Reid's bedside in Intensive Care.

'Just talk to him.' the Doctor said, and left them together. Dave sat apart from them.

Aaron took Reid's hand and squeezed it, but there was no response.

'I understand what you are going through, Spencer. I've been there. But there is life after. We need you, Spencer. Please wake up.

Reid lay silently, eyes closed. Hotch wondered if Reid really could hear him. He stroked his hair, and spoke gently to him.

'Please wake up, Spencer. I need to talk to you.'

_Reid floated in a safe place. There was pain where he was being called to, and he didn't want the pain any more...... he wanted to die. He didn't want to be rescued, but now he was, he wanted to stay in the safe place. He felt Aaron touching him, and wanted to pull away. He couldn't let Aaron touch him. He was soiled, dirty, and he wanted to die. There were two places he could go. Down into the blackness of death where he would be safe forever, or upwards to where he could feel pain, love, be loved. _

_He chose the blackness, and he allowed it to enshroud him as he sank away from the voices calling him......_

The alarm suddenly rang and the crash team ran into the room. Aaron was pulled away before he realised what was happening, and the paddles were applied to Reid's bruised battered chest.

As his body jerked off the bed, Hotch felt Dave's comforting hand on his shoulder.

They saved Spencer this time, and Hotch resumed his place by the bed. He took his hand again.

'We almost lost you, Spencer. Please wake up, and speak to me. I need you.

Reid's eyes fluttered open at the sound of the voice he loved, but he couldn't look at him, knowing what he had seen on the video tape. He turned his head away and started to cry.

'I couldn't stop them.' he said. 'I wanted to, I wanted to stop them, and I couldn't. I let them do this to me.'

Aaron took put a hand on his cheek, and turned his head towards him.

'This is nothing you did. Remember, you said the same to me, Spencer. Now listen to your words, because they are right. You were violated. They are the ones who are dirty. You are clean, innocent of this. Please, look at me.'

Spencer looked into Aaron's eyes, and for a second, their eyes locked.

'I am so sorry, Aaron. I let you die.' Heavy hot tears streamed down his cheeks, stinging the cuts and splits on his skin.

'You have nothing to be sorry for, Spence. I survived the gun shot. It wasn't your fault.'

'I want to leave the BAU.' he said.

'I can't let you, Spencer. I need you close.'

But Spencer pulled his hand away and turned to face the wall.

-0-0-0-

Aaron looked at his hands, still clinging onto Reid's. He didn't want to let go, but Reid was pulling his hands away. He turned onto his side and wrapped his arms around his head.

'You should have let me die, Aaron. It's what I want.'

Hotch put his hand on his back and stroked him gently.

'I can't do that, Spencer. You are needed. We need you...... I need you.'

Spencer turned slightly so that he could see Aaron.

'I love you, Aaron.' he said, 'But I am un loveable. How can you ever love me when I loathe myself.'

'Spencer, you are special to me. I need you close. It doesn't matter what those men did to you. I had already decided, I need you on my team. You are important to us, and I love you like a father loves a son.'

'My father didn't love me. He left me.' Reid said through the tears.'

'Your father was a foolish man.' Aaron said. 'Please let us help you.'

Reid turned his body so that he was facing Hotch.

'You went through this, Aaron. I am so sorry. I tried to help you, but I had no idea.'

'You helped me just by being there, as I will always be there for you as long as you need me to be.' Aaron said. 'Please, let us help you.'

Aaron glanced across at Dave. He had succumbed to exhaustion and was sleeping in the chair. Aaron slipped off his shoes and sat on the bed.

'Do you want me to hold you?'

Spencer tried a smile. He nodded his head, and Aaron lifted his legs onto the bed and lay down next to Spencer. He threaded one arm beneath him, and the other across his chest, and pulled him close. He pressed his face in Reid's hair where he could taste his tears.

Spencer put his arms around Aaron, and leaned his head on Aaron's chest. Aaron felt Spencer cry as his body racked with sobs. Aaron felt his own tears fall onto Spencer's hair, and soon both men had cried themselves into a shattered sleep.

-0-0-0-

Dave woke an hour later with a stiff neck and aching back. Hospital chairs were not conducive of a good night's sleep. He smiled at Aaron and Spencer asleep on the bed, and although he felt a stab of jealousy, he understood what was happening, and left them to sleep.

A nurse came in and carefully took temperatures without waking them, and left again.

The healing had begun, and now it was only time that stood between now and the team being back together again.

-0-0-0-

END....... of this story. There will be a sequel, but I don't know what it will be called yet.


End file.
